


The CEO of my heart

by askmyknife



Series: Peter Parker, CEO: Multiverse. [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aged-Up Peter Parker, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canon Divergence - Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Peter is a CEO, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2020-07-25 20:48:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20032108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/askmyknife/pseuds/askmyknife
Summary: REBOOT.After graduating from MIT, Peter opens his own business in advanced security tech called Parker Enterprises, which grows exponentially by the time he reaches 30. Five years later, he juggles between the dual life of being a CEO and Spiderman, but makes it work.His life takes a turn when Tony Stark recruits him to be on his team as his new asset against Captain America during their Civil War, and Peter now has to handle not only the major crush he has for Tony, but also the fact that he really does not want to sign the accords.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> a couple of things: 
> 
> 1\. hi! I am back!  
2\. I am rebooting this story and doing some editing, adding some scenes, making it flow better, but the storyline is the same as it once was.  
3\. I wrote this before Endgame was out, so it does not follow Endgame in the slightest. 
> 
> Enjoy. :)

"Mr. Parker, you have Kodalski Industries on line 1. They're not happy."

"Thanks, Karla," Peter replied in a rush, pulling his bike in his office before he practically ran to his seat to answer his phone. The CEO ran a hand through his disheveled hair, laughing nervously when he was told Kodalski Industries had already been waiting fifteen minutes for their conference call. Yikes. Peter noticed his assistant was frowning at him, staring disapprovingly at his bike as though that was his reason for being late. Alright, perhaps it was peculiar for a CEO with as much money as he made to travel with his bike when he could pay for (probably more than one) chauffeur to get him wherever he wanted. But, Peter being Peter, he liked keeping things simple, and he did not like throwing money at just about anything and everything. He remembered what it was like to _ not _ have it. 

Plus, had they not seen New York? A bike was literally faster, nobody could dispute that. Now, swinging all the way to work could have done the trick, but Peter could absolutely not risk doing something of the sort. Better be late than have anyone connect him to Spiderman. 

(He remembered what happened the last time someone figured out his secret identity.)

In any case, no, the bike was certainly not why he was late. 

The Spiderman suit Peter was currently wearing underneath his suit was definitely the reason why. Peter normally left patrolling to evenings and nights since it was when criminals seemed to prefer to come out, but he had caught a thief running away from the police right in the middle of the street on his way to work, and so _ of course _ he had to intervene. He was the Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman! What kind of Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman would he be if he didn’t try to stop criminals when he saw them? 

(Were they not his responsability?)

Unfortunately, he wouldn't have had the time to change back into his clothes and put his Spiderman suit in his bag, and so he left the Spiderman suit underneath, and was now fixing his crooked tie. Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed anything weird about him today. It wasn't the first time he arrived so disheveled, honestly. 

Ironically, many thought it was because he got lucky the very morning. Ha! As if. The thought alone almost made Peter laugh. Not only did the CEO grossly underestimated his worth, popularity and appeal, but theoretically, he also didn't have the time. Between coming to work and leaving to patrol for hours, it left little time before it would be time to sleep and start all over. Peter's life mainly consisted of work, Spiderman, sleep, and movies. His social life more or less was made up of movie night once a week on Thursdays at MJ's. Sure, he saw her or Ned at lunch too sometimes when they were around, but that was mostly it. Ned was an computer engineer consultant for his business, too, so he'd come in one a month for that. And of course, he'd have dinner with May every Saturday. 

All in all, Peter was happy with his life. May was worried that he was alone, but he wasn't alone. He had Ned, MJ, her, and Spiderman. It was plenty enough for him. And, really, if he was truly honest with himself, he was terrified of being with anyone else again. 

"Gwen," Peter declared after he hung up, "Can you schedule another meeting for next week with the Kodalski Industries? Preferably in the afternoon, because they were _ not _ happy I was late," he added, eyes slightly widened before he shook his head. 

_ "Gwen?" _ His AI answered, and Peter froze. 

"Sorry,” he gulped, “Karen," he corrected himself, narrowing his brows.

He had not made that mistake in _ months; _ he couldn't exactly see why he had made it now. After his fiancée's death, he had created an AI modelled after her. He used the videos he had of her, the voicemails—anything to try and mimic her voice, her intonations. He knew at the time it wasn't healthy, but he had not been able to deal with her death otherwise. With time, however, he knew that it had been time to move on (Ned reminded him every time he interacted with his AI that it was _ weird_). He thus kept the same framework from Gwen, not wanting to erase her altogether, and created Karen. 

_ "It's done, Peter. May wants to know if you will be there for dinner on Sunday the 7th?" _

"Sunday? Oh. Yeah, yeah. I'll be there," he gulped, again. It would have been his Uncle Ben's 65th birthday.

Peter shuddered at the thought. He still very much claimed responsibility for his Uncle Ben’s death, and for Gwen's too, really. It was why one of the many reasons why he was wary of who he let into his life. Not because he was afraid of being hurt himself, but because he was afraid of _ them _ getting hurt because of _him_. 

His whole company had been created trying to keep others safe, after all. After his Uncle's death, he had learned never to let a criminal walk free if he could help it, and learned that with great power came great responsibility. _ But_, his Spiderman abilities were not the only powers he had. Peter knew he had a high intellect and he ought to do something with it. This was why, in the end, his company ended up specialized in advanced security tech: his Uncle Ben. If the convenience store had good security tech, it would have been able to stop the criminal who left and then killed his Uncle. Or at the very least, it would have been able to get a picture of the criminal so he could later be I.D.’ed. Plus, could anyone ever have enough security? In New York, at that? Peter sold mostly to the Government and residential homes, but gave a lot of free security systems for small business and houses in New York as well, especially in most dangerous neighbourhoods. 

In the end, he had to protect his city with all he had, right? 

Karen's voice stripped him out of his thoughts. _ "Peter, you have a visitor." _

Visitor? Who? He didn't remember scheduling a meeting with any visitors in his schedule this morning. At all. He had a meeting at 1 PM, and that was it. 

"Huh, alright. Send them in," Peter replied, logging in his computer to see just who had been scheduled today for him so he could have a little bit of background, when he heard the door open. Forever polite, Peter grinned instantly before his eyes ever landed on the _ visitor. _

"Hi, I'll be just a s—" Peter interrupted himself and looked up, his jaw dropping when his gaze met ** _him. _ ** As with everyone else, of course Peter knew who **Tony Stark ** was**. ** And yes, Peter may have a _ teeny, _ tiny crush (who now Peter realized was a full blown crush the moment he saw Tony Stark waltz into his office) on him."—econd.” _ Real classy, Peter. _"Hi," Peter then added after clearing his throat, standing up from his desk to offer his hand for him to shake. "Sorry," he chuckled, albeit nervously. "Big fan. Kind of startstrucked. Very nice to meet you Mr. Stark, I'm Peter Parker," He paused, letting out yet another nervous chuckle. "But you already knew that since you came to my office."

Tony took a moment to look around before he headed towards Peter and shook his hand, a smirk on his lips. Oh, it sent _ shivers _ down Peter's spine. "Mr. Parker. Always a pleasure to meet a fan. You can consider me a fan of your work. Both the security systems and how you can you stick to walls."

Peter's jaw dropped,_ again. _

(How did he even know?)

"Stick to walls?" Peter repeated, failing at feigning innocence. 

Tony raised a brow, his gaze oh so clearly telling Peter to stop bullshitting him. He didn't say a thing just yet however, which made Peter gulp. (Was he here to… arrest him?) He watched Tony get out his StarkPhone, projecting an holographic image of Peter being so clearly caught as Spiderman without his mask on. Fuck. It was decidedly caught of these mornings (very much like this one) during which he'd catch a criminal before getting to work when he wasn't supposed to.

"Question of the rhetorical type. That's you, right?"

Peter cleared his throat and looked away. He wasn’t going to yell to Tony Stark and insult his intelligence after being caught on tape like that. "Yeah." Shit. He definitely needed to be more careful. But, if Tony Stark out of all people was able to only find _two_ footage of him without his mask on... It wasn't so bad, considering he had been Spiderman for 20 years now. It definitely could have been worse. 

"Relax, kid. I erased the footage the moment I found it."

_ Kid? _ He was kidding, right? Peter was in his mid-thirties, was a CEO, and quite frankly towered over Tony. No, really, he never imagined Tony Stark to be so... short. (But no, he was not going to tell him that.) Then again, Peter was 6'3". Most people were shorter than him by default. In any case, the first actual pet name your crush gives you is _ kid_? Not good. 

"So, what can I do for you, Mr. Stark?" 

Tony walked around in Peter's office, looking at the surroundings, touching things he probably shouldn't (not that Peter minded, he would let Tony Stark touch pretty much anything in his office, including him._ Especially him_.) "I'm assuming you've seen the news?" 

Huh, not exactly _ seen_. But was Peter going to tell Tony that he instructed his AI to always update him when it was something to do with Iron Man or the Avengers? Nope. _ Nope. _"Pretty hard to miss something this big."

"I'm gonna cut straight to the chase here; I want you."

Peter froze. He widened his eyes, this time trying not to so obviously drop his jaw. After all, his child-like expressions were probably what warranted him the very unfair 'kid' designation. But had Tony Stark just said_ I want you, _ or had he been dreaming? 

Tony smirked. "Didn't expect a blush, but I'll take it as a yes. Should've come to me if you wanted to join the Avengers so bad, sweetheart."

_ Sweetheart_. Well, this was definitely better than _ kid_, but it only confused Peter all the more. What did he—

Oh. _ Oh. _ Tony wanted him _ on his team. _ Against Captain America and the Winter Soldier. _ Right. _ Right, that made way more sense. Peter laughed at himself at the fact that he thought, even if only for a mere second, that Tony Stark would actually want him. The idea alone was... desperate. 

"Actually," Peter chuckled a little, rubbing the back of his neck. "While I'm very honoured that you want me on your team, and believe me it would be a thrill to fight on your side, I... can't. I can't sign the accords. I've been a vigilante for so many years, if the government knows it's me, they'll be shutting down my company and taking my assets and a lot of people rely on me here."

More than he could let on. 

Tony’s curiosity seemed to have peaked up. "So if I were to try and bring you in right now for not wanting to cooperate and sign the accords, you would fight me?" 

Peter gulped. "I—" 

Tony raised a brow.

Peter sighed and ultimately nodded. "I would."

"Listen, kid, you don't have to sign the Accords or become an Avenger. You obviously have a lot on your plate and I'd hate to shut down your company, you do good work, but I could use a hand on this. I'll just tell of the Secretary of the State you happened to be around the fight and intervened and then left before anyone could catch you. Isn't that your specialty?" 

Peter chose to ignore the _ kid _ in favour of Tony somehow still wanting to work with him and accommodate him. But if he believed so much in the Accords, why would he let him not sign it? "Yes it is," Peter however replied proudly. Oh, how many cops had he pissed off thus far? But oh, how he would have been in trouble should Tony had decided that he wanted to take him in. He would have fought him, sure, but to what end? It wasn't like he would harm or god forbid, kill him to protect his secret.

In other words, he would have been screwed. Completely. 

"Sounds like we got ourselves a deal, Parker. We're leaving tonight. I already had my AI get yours to clear your schedule."

_ Seriously? _ Had this been anyone else than Tony Stark, Peter would have been greatly aggravated. And quite frankly not feeling too good about his own AI being given _ orders _ and completely breached. Wasn’t he the CEO of a security company?! But, this was Tony Stark. A genius. Iron Man. It probably had taken him half a second to figure out his AI. 

"Where are we going?" 

"Germany. The address for the meet-up to my private jet is already in your calendar."

"_Germany?! _"

Tony quirked a brow. "Is that a problem?" 

Peter chuckled, and shook his head. "Nope. Not at all. Just didn't expect—" Peter stopped himself, grinning.

He was going to Germany. To fight alongside Iron Man. Against Captain America. Never in a million years would he have seen this coming.

"I'll be there." 

* * *

What exactly did one pack for a four day trip (Peter calculated flying in, the fight, and flying out took a total of four days, since this was how long Tony had cleared his schedule for) to _ Germany _ to fight alongside _ Iron Man_? Peter might have been a superhero-slash-vigilante for twenty years now, but he was still very excited to be around another superhero, especially Iron Man. More than that, it was incredible, and completely _ crazy _ that he was going to fight Captain America. Ned told him he wouldn't even believe it until he saw a footage of it. Peter didn't blame him. After all, compared to the Avengers, Peter was extremely… low-key. Sure, he dealt with a lot of bad guys over the years, some extremely powerful like the Green Goblin, Venom, Mysterio… But none of them were the caliber of what the Avengers had to fight during their missions. A god with thousands of aliens, Ultron—They made seem Spiderman's villains like kindergarteners stealing a toy truck from another kid.

Okay, maybe not that much. Peter had fought hard and lost a lot to these bad guys, but still. This was something else entirely, and he wondered if he was even up for it. If Steve Rogers had come in his office and asked for the same thing Tony was asking of him, would he have said yes?

Well, alright, the answer was easy: no. While he didn't want to sign the accords, much like Steve and his team did, trying to protect the Winter Soldier when he was a wanted fugitive who killed countless people hardly seemed like a good move. And hey, if Peter didn't want to keep his identity secret, he would have been the first one to sign the Accords even if he didn't completely agree with them. Starting a war against the government wasn't exactly the best idea when one was claiming to be a superhero.

So no, he would not have agreed to join Steve Rogers like he so easily agreed to join Tony. 

"Tell me you aren't biking there," Ned pointed out, before he picked up a shirt for him. Blue, long-sleeved. "What about this one?"

"Know what, this one is not that bad. Thanks," Peter replied, taking the shirt and putting it in his bag. 

"Peter."

"I'm not going to go to his jet with my bike, relax. I do own a car," Peter stated, rolling his eyes playfully.

"Uh-uh. When is the last time you have driven it?" 

Peter shrugged, picking up jeans. "What about these? Too casual?"

"Aren't you going there to fight Captain America and everyone else? You'll be in your Spiderman suit. Why do you need clothes? You told me you aren't going to become an Avenger, so why bother trying to impress them? Seriously Peter, I doubt they'd care about your clothes anyway," Ned asked.

Peter didn't answer. He looked away and packed the jeans, pressing his lips together in a thin line, very nervously casting a look at Ned at last. His best friend would figure him out in 3...2...1...

"Oh my god, Peter," Ned scrunched up his nose. "I always knew you had a crush on Iron Man."

"I don't!" Peter defended himself, you know, by _ lying_. 

"Alright, then, you have a crush on _ Tony Stark_," Ned rectified, "No, scratch that, you have a crush on both, it's obvious with the way you react when you see him on TV. I should have connected the dots." 

"They're the same person," Peter replied, picking up another shirt and folding it. "And I don't have a crush on them," Peter paused, "him."

"Right, sure. I haven't seen you ask me for advice with clothes since _ Gwen." _

Peter tensed instantly. He gulped, taking a moment before he turned his head and shot Ned a semi-glare. He knew speaking about her was totally off-limits.

Ned sighed. "Sorry. My point still stands, though," he paused, "and don't take that shirt. You got that perfect body, don't hide it in a baggy shirt, come on."

Peter snorted. "Thanks," he replied, removing the shirt he had folded and took another one, showing it to Ned and waiting for him to nod before he put it his bag. "Alright, that should be everything."

"Hey, for what it's worth? You could have done worse than Tony Stark."

Peter didn't try to hide his smile. 

“You gonna tell MJ about this?” 

Peter nearly choked on air. “_How?” _ He honestly couldn’t think of a good way to explain this to their friend: she wasn’t exactly aware that he was Spiderman. And MJ wasn’t stupid, if he told he was leaving with Tony Stark for a couple of days and then hear about whatever fight they’ll have in Germany, she would put two and two together. Honestly, he didn’t know how she hadn’t figured it out already.

Point was, he couldn’t tell her.

Ned seemed to agree. “Yeah, on second thought…” 

“Exactly.”

“What do I tell her about movie night?”

_ Shit. _

Peter rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. “I’ll come up with something, don’t worry about it.”

(He always did, didn’t he?)

* * *

As promised, Peter did not ride his bike to the jet. It would have been maybe a bit too long anyway. No, he used his BMW; not the fanciest car for a CEO, but for Peter, it was more than fancy enough. It had been the car he wanted so desperately to have to impress Gwen when he was much younger. He just always bought the new model whenever his would become too defective and he couldn't find a way to fix it.

He arrived on time, perhaps a little early, parking his car and taking his duffle bag before he head to the jet. A man he did not recognize was waiting for him. 

Peter smiled and offered his hand for him to shake. "Hi. I'm Peter. Peter Parker."

The man did not shake his hand, nor did he even look down at it. He simply turned around and uttered a _ 'This way' _ as he headed in the jet.

"Okay..."

Peter was slightly suspicious as he got inside, but felt relieved when he got in and found Tony typing on his StarkTablet. The man looked somehow even better with glasses. It was a shame he removed them the moment Peter got in. But oh, that _ smile_. 

Only to have it followed by "Hey, kid."

_ Kid. _

Peter wanted to groan.

Tony offered him an off-hand gesture. "Take a seat," he carried on. "Thanks, Happy," he added in the other man's direction, and Peter almost scoffed. Really, this guy? He was named _ Happy _? Ironic. Peter wondered if it was on purpose of just a coincidence, but he didn't dare ask.

In any case, he did as he was told, sitting across from Tony even though there were so many more seats on the jet.

"That was my seat," _ Happy _ muttered.

Peter widened his eyes, and cleared his throat, grabbing his bag to get back up. "Oh. I'm sorry, I can—" 

"Don't move, sweetheart, it's fine," Tony gestured for him to stay, "I have to talk to you anyway."

_ Sweetheart._ Peter didn't hide the obvious smile that crossed his lips as he leaned back against his seat, letting go of his duffle bag. He turned his head to look at the surroundings, but then his gaze met Happy's, and his smiled vanished. Happy was _ not _ happy. It almost made Peter want to switch seats, but Happy ignored him as he went to the end of the plane, put earplugs in and looked like he was heading for a nap. 

Peter was then handed a StarkTablet and he swiped to see the different files on it. Steve Rogers, Wanda Maximoff, Sam Wilson— "Is that everyone who left?" 

Tony nodded. "I'm sure you all know who the Avengers are, but it wouldn't hurt to know what their specific strengths and weaknesses are, since they will know ours. Except yours, of course," Tony added with a smirk, taking a sip of his water. "You're my secret weapon."

Peter smiled again, looking up at Tony. "Am I?" 

"Pretty sure no one is going to expect you there. But we can assume Rogers has decided to do the same thing. Don't focus on the new guy. I'm hoping you can use your web fluid to neutralize their weapons—and them—before anyone gets lethally injured," Tony explained. 

Peter nodded. "I can do that." 

"That's all I need you to do. I expect from the data I have on you that you should be faster than them. So if this fight goes south, I'm going to ask you to leave and I don't want to start arguing with you about it," Tony paused, "Are we clear on that?" 

Peter let out a nervous laughter. "I'm not going to leave if there's _ people _ in danger—"

"Peter."

Peter gulped. Tony looked extremely serious. Dead serious. There was no smile or smirk on his lips, no playful glint in his eyes. He was not kidding about this, at all. And quite frankly, Peter wasn't sure he could actually agree to that. But, he had to think of the bigger picture here. All the people that relied on on him. The reason why he couldn't reveal his identity and sign the accords. May. His friends. All the people he helped with his company. Should that tech get in the wrong hands...

Peter looked away for a moment, honestly unsure he could listen to such a request, though. If anyone on his team was in danger, if _ Tony _ was in danger...He didn’t have it in him to just leave. But, he knew that arguing with the man now would not help in the slightest, and might even result in Tony deciding to not let him fight at all.

He sighed.

"Yes sir."

The rest of the trip was smooth. Happy had fallen asleep, and so did Tony. It was when Peter had been reviewing all the files and information, actually. He had been reading about Steve when he suddenly looked up to steal a glance at Tony, finding him fast asleep. Oh, it was a sight to see, and it took everything in Peter not to take a picture, and instead go back to read about the former Avengers. He was thoroughly distracted, looking up every so often to see if Tony had woken up. Eventually, Peter had finished reading everything twice, and took the opportunity to get out his laptop and answer emails and handle other work matters. It was the longest time he would be away and he wasn't sure how his office would handle it. He was in the middle of a lengthy email when Tony woke up, and Peter hadn't hesitated to give him his undivided attention. 

They arrived shortly after, with a car ready for them. Tony sat with Peter in the back while Happy drove to a _ very _ luxurious hotel, suites on the top floor all ready for them. Because neither Tony or Happy instructed him otherwise, he followed them in what appeared to be Tony's suite, amazed by the surroundings. _ Amazed_. A small ' _ wow _ ' even escaped his lips. It was _ very _ neat. 

Tony raised a brow and laughed. "First time you've been in a luxurious suite?" 

"Actually—yeah," Peter confessed. Sure, he had the money for it, but did he have the time? The only reason he ever would have booked a room like this would have been with Gwen for an anniversary or anything of the sort, but he certainly did not have that money when she was still alive. He had just started his company back then and he had been _ broke._ Plus, he hired people for the international business meetings, and he didn't go out of New York very often. If he could avoid it, he did. People would piece together that each time Peter Parker left for long business trips, Spiderman disappeared, and it was too big of a risk. Four days was a stretch here. But since it would be a one time thing, no one would really care or link the two events. Still, Peter had to be careful. 

"Can't leave New York all alone without Spiderman, huh?" Tony replied as he headed further inside the suite and removed his jacket, throwing it on the couch. 

Peter smiled and nodded. "Exactly." 

"So you're a fancy hotel virgin, then," Tony smirked. 

_ Fancy hotel virgin? _Was that even a thing?_  
_

No way it was a thing.

"You could say that." 

"Remind me to take you to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel when we get back to New York."

The CEO's jaw dropped. Yeah, he had not expected that. Was...Was Tony asking him out? Was he asking him out to the_ fanciest hotel in New York to test out a suite? _ Was this even _ real? _ Peter didn't know what to say. He let out a small chuckle, his mind blank, despite how he could hear a small '_Yes please take me to the fanciest hotel and let me fuck you there' _ screaming at the back of his mind. There was no way he would say that. For all he knew, Tony Stark was just going to show him the hotel or get him a room just for the experience as a thank you for what he did in the midst of this Civil War with between the Avengers and former Avengers.

Yeah, it was definitely that. 

Peter finally spoke, at last. "That's over a grand a night." 

Tony snorted. "You're an interesting man, Mr. Parker. You are one of the most eligible CEOs in New York, with the money to _ buy _ a hotel, and you bike to work, only own a BMW, and never have slept in a five star hotel."

"Just never had the time or opportunity," Peter replied, shrugging nonchalantly. "And I bike for the environment," he added, a small smirk curving his lips. "There's enough cars in New York."

Tony smiled, and the _ way _ he looked at Peter almost made the man blush. It was so... fond. Peter didn't know what he had done or said to deserve that look. At all. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do," Tony began, "You're going to get to your room, get acquainted with it, freshen up and come back here. Be quick, 'cause I'm starving."

Peter's heart jumped. "We're going to go get dinner?"

"Oh no, we're getting the dinner here. You need a taste of room service to get the whole suite experience. Now skedaddle, or I'm going to start ordering without you," Tony gestured for him to leave, and Peter grinned. 

He almost forgot the fact that he had to fight half the Avengers the next day.

“Alright, let me _ skedaddle_,” (No way Peter ever said that word before now), “I’ll be back,” he added before going out, stopping in his tracks immediately when he realized he had left his laptop bag in the room. He leaned towards the door to knock on it, stopping himself when he could overhear Tony talking about _ him. _

(Thank you, heightened hearing.)

“So, what do you think of the kid?”

_ Kid. _

Peter rolled his eyes. 

“Still don’t think you should have gotten him involved, Tony. He’s too excitable.”

“Is he?” There was amusement in Tony’s tone, but what came next which interested Peter all the more. “I think it’s cute.”

_I think it's cute._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that feeling when you suck so much it takes you 100 days to update.

_ So if someone says another someone is excitable (in a bad way) and someone else says it’s cute, does it mean the person is cute, or is being excitable cute? -PP _

_ Or does it mean the person is cute when they are excitable? -PP _

Peter closed the door behind him after he entered his room, having obviously decided on leaving his laptop in Tony’s room: he could get it later. Plus, he didn’t exactly want Tony to realize he had, well, eavesdropped. 

Accidentally.

Very accidentally.

Of course.

_ I’m surprised you didn’t ask Ned. -MJ _

_ I did, he’s not answering. -PP _

_ Wow, I feel so special. -MJ _

_ So why exactly do you need to know? -MJ _

_ Science. -PP _

_ Not because someone referred to you as excitable and cute? -MJ _

Alright, it was all too obvious and he knew it. 

_ Person A said I was too excitable, person B said it was cute. -PP _

_ Both would be right. So who’s this person B? Kinda offended I don’t get a name here. -MJ _

Shit.

_ I, huh, don’t have a name yet. I’m in a bar. -PP _

_ You, in a bar? At 3 PM? -MJ _

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit. He didn’t think about the timezones.

_ Huh, yeah, it’s a work thing for happy hour. Got there early. -PP _

_ You got somewhere early? Who are you and what have you done to Peter Parker? -MJ _

He was making things worse. She wouldn’t believe he suddenly had an interest for someone at work, after the many times he turned down people because he was still hung up on Gwen. Even now, he was barely able to think about her, much less talk about her. But Tony? Peter  _ always _ had had a crush on the man, (Ned was right), and for the first time in years, he didn’t have the ‘ _ but what about Gwen?’ _ thought plaguing his mind. He felt a little guilty for it, but… what was he supposed to do? Be sad forever?

_ Yeah, yeah. I know. Hey, gtg, I gotta get back to them. -PP _

Well, at least  _ that _ wasn’t a lie. He put his phone back and ran in the shower to freshen up, picking out the outfit Ned had judged to be the… best one. Oh, god, he felt like a teenager. Picking out clothes? For what? Impress him? As if he could impress  _ Tony Stark.  _ Well. Technically, he did, if he was here. He was the only one here. Tony had chosen  _ him _ , and Peter had no clue what he honestly did to deserve this, but it felt like something which only happened in books. 

Ultimately, he fixed his hair and stared at his reflexion, wondering if he was making a bigger deal out of this than it really was. (He was, wasn’t he?) He fiddled with his phone, debating whether or not he should call Ned when he  _ finally  _ received his text. 

_ Fought Captain America yet? Or are you too busy figuring out if Iron Man finds you cute? -NL _

Peter snorted.  _ Nope. Heading to Tony's suite to order room service. This guy Happy (who isn’t happy in the slightest, fyi) said I was too excitable and Tony said it was cute. Verdict? -PP _

_ Can't do that on your own? And honestly I think it could have mean either. Don’t overthink it. -NL _

Damn it.

_ He asked me to join him. Wants to show me the 5-star hotel experience. And take me to the Ritz in NYC. -PP _

_ You're kidding. -NL _

Peter grinned.  _ Nope. Not even. Gotta go, he's waiting for me. -PP _

Peter left his phone in his suite, and took his keycard before he headed to back to the suite nearby. He knocked and Happy opened, looking, as per usual,  _ not _ happy. Peter didn't mind it. He gave him a small, ultimately unreturned "hey" as he headed inside, finding Tony sat down on his king-size bed, reading something on his StarkTablet with  _ the _ glasses. God, the glasses. They had an effect on him which Peter couldn't explain. It was truly a shame that he removed them when Peter got inside, putting them on his nightstand with the tablet. 

"Parker, there you are."

"There I am," Peter replied, forever smiling. Honestly, what was there not to smile about in this situation? 

(He supposed he could ask Happy, the guy seemed to have just about a million reasons not to smile.)

Tony stood up and gestured for him to follow, and soon enough the pair of them were sitting at the table, the room service menu already opened, with a bottle of champagne and two glasses on a tray. "Wow," Peter chuckled. "Champagne?" 

"It was in the room," Tony explained, offering him an off hand gesture. Interesting, Peter thought, because he didn't remember seeing champagne in  _ his _ room. "But feel free," he gestured again. "And order whatever you'd like. On me."

Peter slowly began glancing at the menu for his options, even if he wanted to literally order all. "I can pay for my food, Mr. Stark."

"I'm sure you can, but making sure you're here comfortable is the least I can do for bringing you out there. I assume you wouldn't take money for helping me?" 

Peter shook his head with a smile. "Nope. I don't get paid to be Spiderman."

"Figured," Tony replied as he poured himself a glass of champagne, letting Peter survey the menu to decide what he wanted. Once he had read everything twice, he came up with a list of what he wanted. High metabolism did mean more food intake. "All great choices," Tony noted.

Peter turned his head towards Happy. "Anything you want, Happy?" 

Happy squinted. "I'm good, thanks."

_ What was the deal with this guy? _ Peter ignored it, turning his attention back to Tony. 

"Got everything, FRIDAY? Send the order."

_ "It's done." _

Peter took the liberty of starting to flip through the pages of the handbook of the hotel, honestly amazed by the ameneties. So yes, the suites were amazing in itself, but the  _ things _ to do here? He could literally have a vacation here and never get out of the hotel. There were over three restaurants, two pools, one indoor and one outdoor, two tennis courts, a massage & spa, a gym, and other planned activities he could register to. Incredible. It was when he saw the pictures of the pools though he was thoroughly enthralled. 

"Oh, wow," he said out loud without realizing, and Tony smirked. "That pool is insane."

"You want to go for a swim?" 

"What?" Peter jolted his head up, and then laughed. "No, no, I don't have a swimsuit anyway. But that's a killer pool."

"You're gonna love the one at the Ritz in NYC. The roof is see-through."

Peter grinned. "Yeah?"

"I sure hope so, for over a thousand a night," he teased him, and  _ winked.  _

Oh god, he winked. It took everything in Peter not to start turning as red as a lobster. "Okay, you  _ have _ to admit that is terribly overpriced for a room.”

Tony tipped his head to the side, studying Peter after his response. "Is it? I have incredibly fond memories of their rooms."

Peter didn't need to ask what exactly those memories were; he had read the tabloids. He knew how Tony used to be a  _ playboy _ , even if he had not been seen with anyone in months. Not that he followed all of the gossip, but he wasn't blind to the magazines and articles he stumbled upon without exactly searching for them. 

"But I bet you could have had those same memories in your bed," Peter finally said. (Did he sound bitter?)

"Maybe," Tony replied. "Probably not."

Peter couldn't exactly understand what he meant, but he didn't think asking was a good idea. He wasn't going to start talking to Tony about his sex life -- Peter's was rather different in that matter and while he did not understand how a man (or anyone) could meet someone, barely know their name, fuck them and then never talk to them again, he was not judgemental in the slightest.

Still, Peter couldn't help but wonder what exactly Tony planned to do in  _ their _ room at the Ritz. 

But before Peter could speak again, Tony carried on. "So, Pete, tell me. If you don't spend your nights in fancy hotels,  _ where _ do you spend them?" 

Peter chuckled. (What kind of question as that?) "My penthouse?" 

"Ah, so you do know what money is for," Tony teased him. 

Peter rolled his eyes, albeit playfully. "I have a  _ very _ nice penthouse and my aunt has a  _ very _ nice little house in Queens and we both have nice cars. Nothing frivolous was really necessary."

"Everyone needs to do something frivolous sometimes, sweetheart." 

_ Sweetheart. _

"Maybe," he shrugged, "I don't think I've really had time to do that in the past… 20 years," Peter conceded with a short lived laugh. Yeah, ever since he had become Spiderman, his whole life had been about that. When he was in high school was the worst--dealing with puberty, high school, a side job at the Daily Bugle (let's not forget how J.J. Jameson hated Spiderman with a burning passion), and being Spiderman was too much. Being a CEO now and Spiderman was too much too, probably, but he had learned how to handle the struggle. 

"As a responsible adult, I'm gonna have to change that," Tony replied with a smirk. 

Peter rose a brow. "Really? How?"

"You're young, sweetheart, you're in your thirties -- god knows how much stupid stuff I did in my twenties and thirties. It's time now to buy that crazy expensive car you've been looking at, to stroll in a bar and pick up that beautiful girl who kept eyeballing you because she recognized who you are, and get so unbeliveably drunk you don't even remember your own name."

_ Sweetheart _ . Again. Peter almost blushed. He did however adjust himself in his eyes, unsure what would be the adequate answer to Tony's suggestion. "I actually...can't get drunk," he admitted. At the incredulous look Tony gave him, he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess it's a fast-metabolism thing. I've tried, though, but I can never get past the tipsy level."

"Now see, _ that _ explains why you've been such a good boy all these years."

_ Good boy _ . Peter cleared his throat; oh the praise had an effect on him he had to absolutely  _ hide.  _ "I guess it does."

Saved by the bell, a knock on the door was heard, indicatig the room service had been delivered.  _ Already?  _ Maybe they were extra fast because it was Tony Stark, and well, everybody knew who he was and how important he was. So, the next thing Peter knew, three silver carts with white tablecloths on top of it strolled in with various kinds of dishes, all covered with silver food bells. Oh, it was so  _ extra,  _ as MJ would say, but it made Peter feel giddy to share all of that with  _ Tony Stark _ . Ned would never believe it. (He wondered if he could sneak in a few pictures.)

They ate and discussed about nothing and everything, mostly what Peter did other than being a CEO and Spiderman; the answer to that was very simple. Dinners with his aunt and movie nights with friends was the long version of it. Peter could tell Tony was studying him, as if he were some kind of special specimen and no one was like him, but he figured that was only because he was used to hang around other rich people who were definitely not like Peter. Heck, everyone Peter knew thought he acted  _ weird _ for a CEO, but he didn't care. Why spend money carelessly for things he didn't need or would only satisfy him for a day? Peter knew what it was like to be broke, he had lived poor for a large portion of his life and that had taught him the value of money and how important it was. The need to spend crazy amounts of money on anything never really came to him. Sure, he had a penthouse in NYC, great suits, a great TV and a literal wall of movies behind it, but that's as far as he went. Not that he didn't enjoy  _ this _ , the five-star hotel with delicious food delivered to them, the great pool and the spa he could go in if he wanted — but who would he even enjoy this with? 

Peter lived such a simple yet complicated life because of the nature of his work, really. 

The rest of the evening went by incredibly smoothly, until it felt like an appropriate time to go to bed. They were both jet-lagged and Happy already had left to his suite to sleep, but Peter didn't care. He had wanted to spend as much time with Tony as he could, and so it wasn't until Tony bid him goodnight that he headed back to his suite. 

The only problem was, Peter couldn't sleep. Perhaps it was because of the  _ amazing _ night he had, or perhaps it was because he was  _ nervous _ about tomorrow and how it could all unfold. Perhaps it was both. But the fact was that he  _ couldn't _ sleep, and after turning about a trillion times in his bed, he decided that he was only wasting more time. Having a good night sleep before what was probably going to be the biggest fight of his life seemed like a good idea at the time, but Peter had given up on it. He got up and grabbed his bag, taking out his laptop. Might as well do some work, yeah? 

He answered emails, chatted with one of his employees (the time difference made it so that some people were actually still awake and late at work), and then decided to look at his schedule for next week. It was then that he remembered that  _ somehow _ , Tony's AI had been able to communicate with his own to remove everything from his schedule. He wasn't offended in the slightest, of course, but he wanted to know  _ how _ . Karen hadn't shown signs of being hacked, so he supposed if it were the case, Tony had been incredibly good at it. It wouldn't surprise him. 

After half an hour, he ultimately found the connection between the two AI's, a smirk curving his lips. "Bingo."

If Tony could have his AI do something he wanted, why couldn't Peter? He knew this was techically a grey area, and he probably shouldn't do it, but he remembered what Tony had told him earlier about  _ leaving _ when he asked him to. He had agreed, but the idea did not sit well with him. So if he could find a way to be told to come back if Tony  _ really _ was in danger, perhaps leaving when told would be easier for him. 

He justified his actions by telling himself that it was for Tony's own good and all he wanted was to help him, and created the coding. It was accepted, to his surprise. Sure, it was facilitated because some of FRIDAY's coding had gone in Karen's, but still. He had expected more resistance. 

Or maybe he was just  _ that _ good. 

Peter snorted at the thought, shaking his head. No matter how good he could be, he doubted he could be better than Tony. He was sure there was another explanation, but it was late, and after his mind was at peace, he finally was able to fall asleep. 

* * *

The fight had been catastrophic. Mind you, it could have been worse, but it had been brutal. Peter had let his guard down too much and had been too amazed by the fact that he was fighting the Avengers. And heck, that Winter Soldier guy had an actual metal arm? Yeah, too cool. No one went easy on him, and he didn't expect them to, but — perhaps it had been Peter who went way too easy on them in comparison. These people used to be Avengers, for god's sake. They did so much good that it was difficult for Peter to give it his all. They were vigilantes like him now, weren't they? They weren't criminals, per se. According to the government, sure, but then again so was Peter. 

He had done this part in his end, of course, but it wasn't without a price. These people were very skilled, very strong, and heavily trained. Him? Sure, he had twenty years of experience as Spiderman and had fought a lot of bad guys, but it was mostly one at a time. Even knowing the weaknesses of the Avengers hadn't given him that much of an advantage. So, when the fight went  _ really _ south, Tony had sent him away from the fight. Peter didn't feel comfortable leaving him  _ at all _ , but he was handling the fight better than him, and Peter needed medical attention. Tony told him he had brought one of his own personal doctors to Germany in case of an emergency and to go see her, and so he did, although very reluctantly. The only reason he actually accepted was that he knew for a fact that if Tony was in mortal danger he would be alerted. 

He thus got to the hospital and first changed (he was not going to go there as Spiderman); staring at his reflexion, he realized he was a proper mess. Black eye. Busted lip. Broken ribs. Large bruises on his shoulder and back. Fingers bloody and bruised. He had lived through way worse, and he could probably heal from this on his own, but seeking medical attention wouldn't hurt, especially since he needed to be back on his feet in case something happened. 

_ Hey, how're you doing? -NL _

_ Not great, Ned. -PP _

_ So you've fought Captain America? -NL _

_ Yep. Got a black eye to show for it. -PP _

_ Holy shit. It's done now? -NL _

_ Nope, Tony sent me to the hospital. Kinda had given him my word I'd do that if he asked me to, so. -PP _

_ That bad? What about the others? -NL _

_ Pretty sure I was able to do some damage or at least cause a distraction, but dude, these guys are way out of my league. -PP _

_ If you had their training and didn't spend all day in an office, you'd be just as good. -NL _

_ Maybe. Anyway, the doctor's coming back with my X-Ray. Talk to you later. -PP _

Except the doctor didn't come back with the X-Ray; it was to inform him of the result of fight. Colonel James Rhodes just had been admitted and sent right to surgery. Peter's heart  _ sank _ . He should have stayed. He really should have. He wanted to ask so desesperately how was Tony, what happened to him, but the fact that Tony hadn't been admitted to the hospital was either a good sign or a  _ terrible _ sign. Then again, someone would tell him if he died, right? Right? 

Peter followed the news very closely for a mention about the fight, for  _ anything _ , when he recieved a text that relieved the tension he had felt for the past few hours. 

_ Hey, kid. Gotta continue this, can't come to the hospital yet. Look over Rhodey for me, yeah? -TS _

_ I'm on it. -PP _

_ Thanks, sweetheart. You did good. -TS  _

But the thing was, Peter didn't  _ feel _ like he had done good, at all. He should have done better. He should have been better prepared. It felt incredibly silly to have spent the night eating and talking with Tony in lieu of studying to know more about the Avengers. He didn't regret it, because god he was crushing on him bad. Just reading the word  _ sweetheart _ made his heart flutter. Still. 

That said, he did as Tony asked of him and stayed with the Colonel, drinking more coffee than he should to stay awake. He had check-ups every now and then and was on meds, but he had been completely patched up now. Peter always had the TV open in case he had any developments, and looked at his phone like a maniac in case Tony had texted him. He had been falling asleep when he felt his phone ring, and he widened his eyes and jolted up when he say who it was. 

FRIDAY. 

Oh, he knew what that meant, and his heart was in his throat. He got out of the room instantly and picked up, heartbeat racing. Hell, even his spidey senses were tingling. This was bad. "What's the damage?" He asked instantly not wanting to waste any time. 

_ "The boss has--"  _

And then nothing. 

"FRIDAY?" Peter's voice broke.

_ "System failure," _ was the last thing he heard before the call was ended. Peter froze for a moment. Oh, this was bad. This was so  _ bad _ . It was critical. Peter activated his AI and instructed to trace back that call immediately as he went back into Rhodes' room, getting his things as he headed out to find out that Tony was in  _ Siberia.  _ Holy hell. 

"Make the necessary arrangements to get me a jet. Now. Pay however is necessary," Peter instructed Karen. 

_ "Right away, Peter." _

"I'm coming, Tony."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is gonna be entirely, 100%, new :)

Peter didn't even know how much it cost to get a medical jet and fly it to Siberia, and he didn't care. He had asked Karen to get a jet by any means necessary, and she had added a personal touch to it: a medical jet was by far her best idea. Now, he didn't exactly know how to operate it or what to even do with any of the medical equipment on it, but that was why he had an AI, right? Karen was capable of operating the jet, and while normally Peter would have tried to learn how to do it (because why not?), he was far too worried about Tony to even think about that right now.

He was too far from Siberia. 

Thank  _ god  _ he didn't go back to America, because it would have taken longer and he perhaps would have even been too late. Heck, he might already be too late regardless. All he had was Tony's last location. What if he had moved from there? What if he had  _ been  _ moved? There would be no way to contact him.

Peter paced in the jet all the way to Siberia, watching several news channels for any  _ updates  _ about what happened to Tony, but he had absolutely no luck. Nobody knew where Iron Man was. Nobody had sighted him. He didn’t think it was a good sign, and it made him all the more anxious. 

"Are we there yet, Karen?" Peter asked his AI, quite probably for the ten-thousandth time since they had departed.

_ "We are arriving in approximately 28 minutes, Peter." _

Peter nodded frantically and let out a shaky sigh, his breathing already erratic. "Alright. Okay. That's not so bad. He's probably alive. Right?"

_ "Would you like me to run the probability of Tony Stark being alive based on the information I have recieved?" _

"No!" Peter replied, or rather, shouted in response. "No," he repeated, albeit more calmly. "No, I know the numbers won't be good. I think it’s better I don’t know. I'll just wait."

(Was this some form of denial?)

_ "As you wish, Peter." _

The next 28 minutes were probably the longest of his life. He was already prepared to rush out with his suit on as he continued to pace around the jet for what felt like a thousand years. When Karen finally opened the door, he headed out without a second thought, activating the watch on his Spiderman suit to input the coordinates of Tony's exact location so he had the latest information on where to find him. He followed the directions quickly, heart racing against his chest when he finally entered the building in question. He couldn't hear a sound, and he knew that was a bad sign. Had Tony left? Had they taken him? Was he okay? 

(Clearly not, if FRIDAY had been put offline.)

Peter called out to him, but no answer came. He ventured in the building as fast as he possibly could, his heart stopping when he finally found Tony. Alone. On the ground. 

Not moving.

"Tony," Peter mouthed, rushing to him and landing on his knees beside him, taking off his mask instantly. Tony did not look good.  _ At all.  _ The damage of his suit and the arc reactor explicated why the call had ended with system failure. Peter suspected there was a lot of pieces of armor that were jammed in Tony's chest, and maybe even his abdomen. God, he looked like a mess. He was so pale that Peter feared he was gone. But he saw a small breath leaving Tony's lips, and Peter knew he was alive. Slowly, Tony's eyes opened, and Peter felt like he could breathe again.

"Kid...?"

Peter let out a shaky, relieved sigh, a smile curving his lips as he nodded. Yeah, never had he been so glad to hear that word.  _ Kid.  _ He nodded. "Yeah. I'm here. I've got you, Tony. I'm going to get you out of here, okay? Are they gone?"

"What are you..." Tony coughed up blood, and Peter knew what he was going to ask; what was he doing here? Although  _ really  _ , the answer to that should be more than obvious. "How...?"

"We can talk about that later, we need to get you to a hospital ASAP," Peter replied, trying to figure out just how he was going to transport him to the plane. He had a stretcher in the jet, but did he want to leave Tony alone? Absolutely not. He didn't know where were the others, but he didn't trust them to be gone. They could come back to finish the job. The thought alone send a shudder through Peter; he couldn't leave Tony alone. Absolutely not.

"Germany," Tony replied with a gasp. "Get me there."

_ _ "That's too far." Peter shook his head, eyes filled with worry. Fear. Both. He felt too much all at once and he had the unfortunate feeling of  _ déjà vù. _

"I'll--" Tony coughed again. "I'll make it. Trust me, sweetheart. I need to get to Germany. I can't trust the hospitals here," he confessed in between laboured breaths, his eyes becoming droopy. His lips were blue, and Peter knew they had to act fast, or else he was going to die of hypothermia.

Peter was very reluctant to accept, but he knew what Tony meant. He had too many enemies to trust just about anyone with his life. Still, Germany seemed so far away. It had so long to get to Siberia, and it would take too long to get back. "I'm getting you to the jet first, I'm calling your doctor then and asking what she thinks is the best course of action."

Tony offered him a weak smile. "There you go."

Peter nodded, and very carefully picked up Tony in his arms, getting back to the jet. He laid him down on the stretcher, not waiting a second longer before he asked Karen to scan for injuries as he called Tony's doctor, worry overcoming him more and more every second, so much so that he considered not listening to Tony to find a doctor right away. He stared at the screen waiting for an answer and every so often glanced back at him, as if to make sure he was still alive. Sure, Peter knew how to patch himself up when he had a few minor injuries, but this? This wasn't minor. He was afraid if he did anything before being told how by someone with an actual medical degree, he would do much more harm than good.

He almost gasped when the screen lit up and he was facing the doctor who had worked on both him and Rhodey. He had been lost in a trance.

"Dr. Warden," Peter paused, "My AI has sent you all the information I have on Tony's condition. Can he make it to Germany?"

"He can, but that's gonna depend on you, Mr. Parker. How comfortable to do you feel doing a procedure?"

Peter sucked in a breath. He knew the best option was bringing Tony to the hospital right now, but what if they got very unlucky and Tony was killed that way? Peter would absolutely never forgive himself. If going to see a surgeon in Siberia was out of the question, then Peter would do anything to keep alive. he turned his head to Tony, eyes overwhelmed with worry.

A tired smile curved on Tony's lips. "I trust you, kid."

Did Peter even trust himself? As agile as he was (he  _ was _ Spiderman, after all), he felt far too on edge to be able to pull this off. But, considering how stubborn Tony was about this, did they even have time to argue about this? Would he convince him of an alternative? What if the alternative was worse? In the end, Peter concluded the best option might just be to go for what Tony had suggested. He thus nodded. "Karen, get us to Germany," he demanded, and he knew his AI had listened when the jet started moving. He took a deep breath before he looked up at the screen, Dr. Warden waiting for him to give him a straight answer.

"Tell me what to do."

* * *

It had been a mess. Peter managed to get Tony out of his armor, and he definitely had to thank his dexterity and quick reflexes for not messing him up more than he was. Somewhere along the way, Tony had passed out, and while it had worried him, Dr. Warden reassured him that it was normal, and quite frankly that from the pain, Tony should have passed out sooner. 

Thankfully, everything had gone well and according to what was already planned, until they landed. Peter supposed the landing had not gone smoothly enough for Tony's injuries and he began bleeding out.

Peter had  _ panicked _ , but thankfully Dr. Warden had been there to talk to him through it until paramedics found them and got Tony to the hospital and straight to surgery. Peter could barely hear what the surgeon had told him when they got Tony inside; everything became such a  _ blur. _

He ultimately made his way to the nearest bathroom after watching Tony leave through the revolving doors leading to the surgery wing, and stood over the sink, looking up at his reflexion to see what kind of mess he had become. God, Peter was exhausted. When did he last sleep? It wasn't like he had a good night sleep the night prior to the battle and he had actually  _ not  _ slept since then. It showed. But, there was no way he was going to sleep until he was told Tony was going to be alright. He felt so nauseous he was surprised he wasn’t throwing up hiis  _ heart.  _

As an attempt to calm himself down and do  _ something,  _ he opened the faucets of the sink, letting water flow before he reached to cup some in his hands, realizing how  _ bloody  _ his hands were. 

But it was not his blood.

He began shaking, washing Tony's blood off before he splashed his face.

He held onto the sink, every bruise he had gotten from the fight honestly killing him right now. He knew he should probably ask for meds, treatment,  _ anything, _ but he usually just lived through the pain, and so he would now. 

Peter ultimately headed out of the bathroom to get himself some coffee, not feeling up to eating even if he knew he'd probably feel better with it. He sat down in the waiting room with everyone else, sipping on his coffee silently. Paralyzed would be a more accurate term. He finally got out his phone to kill time and to stop his mind from ruminating, and oh god, the amount of messages was hurting his head. Work had called at least ten times, Ned three, May four, and thank god all MJ did was send him a text.

_ Hey, haven't heard from you in a couple of days, everything OK? -MJ _

_ Been better, but I'll pull through. Anything new with you? -PP _

MJ usually took forever to answer and so he moved onto May's messages, but it was the usual. He had forgotten to call her when he said he would, so of course she had worried. He thus texted her that everything was fine and he would call her when she would wake up and he got caught up in work because new security systems were going to be launched soon (now, at least that part was true, and it also explained the thousand phone calls from work), before he decided to move onto Ned. It was late in America sure, but he knew Ned would be awake. Wasn't it Friday? God, he didn't even know what day it was.

_ I'm alive. -PP _

As predicted, Ned answered half a second later.

_ Dude, seriously, you scared the shit out of me. -NL _

_ Sorry. My phone died. Didn't have time to charge it until now. And I forgot about it. -PP _

_ What happened? -NL _

_ I hacked Tony's AI to tell me if he ever got critically injured. He did. In Siberia. -PP _

_ You went to get him in Siberia? Is that where you are now? -NL _

_ Yep. But no, back in Germany now. He was almost unconscious when I got there. Ned, I thought he was literally going to die in my arms. -PP _

_ Shit, man. I'm sorry. I know you like him. -NL  _

_ I haven't slept in days. -PP _

_ I see you're not denying my claim. -NL _

Peter rolled his eyes. He was not in the mood for this. At all. Yes, he fucking liked Tony, obviously he did. He had admired him and his intellect long before he had met him, but now that he had? So yeah, okay, he liked Tony. The way he put everyone before him, the way he was so interested to learn about Peter even if he didn't need to, the way he wanted to accommodate him and respected his decision not to sign the Accords  _ yet  _ he was fighting others who weren't. And then of course, there was the Tony Stark charm. How could Peter  _ not  _ like him was the real question here.

_ Seriously? Now's not the time. -PP _

_ Trying to lighten up the mood is all, Peter. Sorry dude. -NL _

_ I know. It’s just.. the 'mood' can't be lightened, Ned. He's in surgery now and I don't even know if he's going to make it. -PP _

Peter let out a shaky sigh as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against his hands, elbows resting against his thighs. When his phone buzzed to indicate his best friend had answered, he didn't even want to look at it. He realized he may have been snappy and Ned was only trying to help, but Peter was  _ not  _ doing good. He was worried sick, he was tired, he was  _ injured  _ — all in all, he was a complete mess and perhaps not at all in the greatest of moods to handle the situation. 

But in the end, after a few minutes, he sighed and looked at his phone. It was MJ.

_ You're up late, Parker. What's up? Don't tell me you've finally decided to get laid. -MJ _

Peter let out a shaky laugh. He wasn’t exactly sure why. Was he breaking down? Had he already broken down? At this point, he wasn’t sure if he felt as though he was anchored in his own body anymore. 

_ Just work. Still haven't gotten laid. But glad to see you still care about my sex life. -PP _

_ I'm worried, dummy. -MJ _

_ You'll be happy to know then that I like someone. -PP  _

_ Holy shit. -MJ _

_ Didn't expect that, eh? -PP _

_ Go get 'em, Tiger. -MJ _

He smiled a little. If only it were that easy, though. He had given himself so many excuses in the past about why he never had made a move on anyone. Because yes, he had met a few people that he could  _ maybe  _ see himself with. Maybe. And had he not been Spiderman? Yeah, he probably would have dated them. Or tried. But after what happened to Gwen because of  _ him _ ? Dating someone became out of the question. He refused to have a bad guy find out his identity and then go after the person he loved the most. Ned knew that excuse far too well and tried to tell him that it should be up to the other person to decide whether or not they wanted to be with him despite the risks, but Peter didn't want to risk it. Not again.

Only, this wasn't an excuse he could actually use in this instance. It wasn't like Tony was someone who couldn't defend himself. At the same time, he was  _ in surgery right now _ . Not because of Peter, obviously this was completely different, but  _ still.  _ This was an incredibly dangerous life. Except… they both lived it.

Maybe a part of him actually liked that someone like Tony could understand him and what he was going through on a day-to-day basis. 

Peter sighed, leaning against his seat as he looked around, and waited. And waited. Each time a doctor came in the waiting room, he looked up hopeful that he would have news, but none of them asked for him for a couple of hours, and Peter spent most of his time looking at the floor.

"Mr. Parker."

His head jolted up instantly and he got up without a second thought, following the doctor with his heart in his throat. He finally could breathe when the surgeon told him Tony had pulled through and would be alright. Thank god. Peter smiled in relief, and almost hugged the doctor in response. Of course he didn't, but he might as well have. Afterward, he was led to Tony's room and was told he should wake up in a couple of hours, and so Peter nodded. It was hard to watch the extent of Tony's injuries even now, but he already looked so much better. For starters, he wasn't hypothermic or covered in blood anymore, at the very least.

Hesitant, Peter slowly made his way to the chair beside Tony's bed to sit down. He told himself he’d stay awake to see Tony when he’d wake up, but the moment he closed his eyes, relief washed over him so hard Peter fell completely asleep. 

* * *

"Sweetheart."

_ Huh? _

Peter groaned as he slowly woke up, confused, opening only one eye as he sat up, taking a moment to realize he had fallen asleep and somehow, his head had fallen on Tony's bed. He yawned, still too tired to fully realize what was happening: understandbly, it would take him a short while to realize what was going on. 

"There he is. How're you doing, kid?" Tony asked him.

It was then that it clicked. His eyes widened and his whole face lit up, a grin curving his lips. 

_ Thank God. Thank Thor. Thank even Loki.  _

"You're awake."

"Good deduction, kid. Have been for a couple of hours, actually. I hope my body was a good pillow for you."

Peter paled.  _ Shit, shit, shit, did I really fall asleep on him?  _ "What?"

"I'm kidding," Tony replied, putting his tablet (and glasses —  _ oh god why did he have to remove the glasses _ ) aside.

"Did I..." Peter paused, answering his question by himself. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. There probably wouldn't even be a body for your head to lay on today if it weren't for you. I wasn't exactly somewhere a lot of bystanders walked by," Tony pointed out. Right.

"How long have I been asleep?" Peter asked, yawning once more as he ran a hand through his hair. Huh. His hair felt  _ messy.  _ Could Tony have…?

"At least three hours. That's how long I've been awake." 

Peter smiled. "You could have woken me up."

Tony shook his head in response. "And disturb that sleeping pretty face? Nah. I only woke you up when you moved and your arm kinda took my IV out."

_ What? _

Peter was completely livid with himself and instantly got up. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry, I'll go get the nurse."

Tony took his hand to stop him. It was certainly efficient. Peter was pretty sure his heart skipped at least six beats. "Relax, kid. I've already called a nurse. We have this button right here to do it without having to do more than lift a finger, see?" He gestured. The next thing he knew, a nurse was coming in, and Tony gave Peter a smug  _ 'I told you so _ ' smug look. Peter relaxed instantly, shaking his head. 

Peter then realized Tony was still holding his hand. He didn’t know if he was dreaming, but there seemed to be a  _ moment _ right there before Tony awkwardly let go and cleared his throat.

Peter took it as a cue to literally  _ yeet _ before he’d blush and expose himself. Seriously, he felt like he was a cartoon. Blushing because the guy you like takes your hand for a second? 

"I'm going to go get some coffee," Peter smiled. "I'll be back." 

"Get some Jell-O.”

"Got it."

He took the opportunity to go to the bathroom first, wincing at just how messy his hair had become. Had he moved this much while he was sleeping, or had  _ Tony  _ actually messed his hair? Peter blushed at the thought. He splashed his face with water again and then fixed his hair, getting out his phone and calling his aunt before she would officially freak out. He came up with some excuse about work as he ordered the coffee and then made sure to get all the different sorts of Jell-O's on a tray before heading back to Tony's room.

"Gotta go, May," he told her before he hung up, getting back in and placing the tray in front of Tony.

"Looks like I got a Jell-O buffet. Take one."

"You sure?"

"I heard your stomach growling a couple of times while you slept. Eat."

Tony didn't start eating his Jell-O right away and worked on his tablet, almost making Peter wonder if the Jell-O had been for him all along. He quietly ate his blue Jell-O, trying not to be too obvious with how he gazed upon Tony.

"So, how did you find me?" Tony finally asked as Peter took another serving of Jell-O. 

Peter tried to act innocent. It failed. "FRIDAY called me."

Tony raised a brow as he looked at the younger man. "You hacked FRIDAY?"

"You hacked Karen first," Peter replied instantly. "Made it easier. So if you think about it, it's kinda your fault."

Huh-oh. Should not have said that.

"What did you just say?"

Peter almost choked on his Jell-O at the  _ face _ Tony made. He didn't know if Tony looked angry or if he was messing with him. He’d opt for the former, just in case. Gulping, Peter straightened himself up. "I take it back."

Tony was definitely mad. "You shouldn't have hacked FRIDAY."

"You would probably be dead if I didn't," Peter retorted. "I'm not sorry about what I did." He was sorry about the means, but… desperate times called for desperate measures?

Tony sighed. Peter could tell that Tony was somewhat agreeing with what he was saying, but he felt too proud to tell him. Or something like that. Peter took another bite of his Jell-O, his gaze never leaving Tony. Peter was going to justify his actions all day if he needed to.

"You could have put yourself in a lot of danger if they had still been there," Tony pointed out with a very serious gaze.

Peter shrugged before he got up to throw away the two small paper plates of Jell-O he had eaten. "Alternatively, if I had been there from the start, we could have won."

Tony scoffed. "Never would have risked your life like that," he muttered.

"Uh-uh," Peter replied as he sat back down. He didn't exactly want to start arguing about that, because it was clear they didn't see eye-to-eye on that matter and Peter was not going to promise him he'd never do something like that again. And quite frankly, Peter had a feeling that this was where the conversation was going. "Can I have more Jell-O?"

"Take anything you want," Tony replied, and the coldness in his tone almost made him  _ wince _ . Peter decided to drop it and leave him alone, quietly eat his Jell-O while Tony began working on his tablet again.

Peter couldn't help but feel that he had heavily fucked up. He felt  _ bad  _ that Tony was mad, but he did not feel guilty for saving him or what he had to do to get to him. It was ridiculous. Sure, Peter hadn't listened to him  _ and  _ hacked his AI, but at the end of the day, it was for a good reason, right? In any case, Peter would absolutely do it all over again.

The rest of the day was a little tense, with doctors coming back and forth, and Tony already making arrangements to have him and Rhodes transferred to the Avengers compound back in New York. Peter didn't exactly know where that left him until Tony told him he could leave, as he was sure he had a lot to take care of back home.

Peter must have had a pretty strong facial reaction to that, because Tony caught on it quickly and cleared his throat. "I'm just saying, you don't  _ have  _ to stay, sweetheart."

"It's just a day," Peter replied. "Dr. Warden says you can be transferred tomorrow morning." 

Tony raised a brow. "She told you that?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"Interesting. No."

Peter didn't exactly see what was interesting in that. But perhaps it was because he was on edge a little. He hadn't slept in a bed in days, he was still injured himself (although his bruises were healing tremendously faster than Tony's), his diet basically consisted of Jell-O's and coffees, and he felt like Tony kept trying to get rid of him. What had happened to how he had treated him earlier? Was Tony truly this upset that Peter had saved his life? That made no sense.

Maybe he had imagined their chemistry. Maybe he had been way in over his head. Or maybe Tony was just different when he was recovering. Peter had no real way to know which explanation was the right one, or if it was a mix of all of them. Or if it was something else entirely.

He slept in the chair beside Tony's bed again that night, and woke up a few hours later with, again, a major case of messy hair. Tony was sleeping when he woke up, and he talked over the transfer with Dr. Warden before he got himself some Jell-O and ate, texting Ned he was coming back to New York soon and that he had a whole lot to tell him. When he came back to Tony’s room, however, he was gone.

Peter nearly dropped the cup of Jell-O he had in his hands. Had someone taken him? He searched for Dr. Warden like a madman in the hospital, only for her to tell him what he already knew: Tony had already left. While he felt relieved that it wasn’t anyone who had just kidnapped him, he couldn’t help the sinking feeling he felt wash over him upon learning that Tony had left without him.

He had sat down in the room for a moment alone, staring at the empty bed silently. He couldn’t ignore the feeling of his heart in his throat, the throbbing in his temples, and the trembling in his hands. Tony had left without him.

Without even  _ telling _ him.

Why?

But in the end, Happy came in the room to get him back to America, and Peter didn’t even have it in him to ask him why Tony hadn’t left with him. He was unusually silent with Happy the whole way to the jet, and again during he whole flight back to America. He didn’t answer the texts he received from MJ or Ned, either. Just looking at MJ’s text asking if he had made a move on the mystery person he liked made his stomach turn. He didn’t even have the chance.

He thanked Happy for driving him to where he had left his car, and then headed back home to his penthouse. He tended to his bruises and then went to bed, only to wake up in the morning and go back to work like nothing had ever happened.

Except something had happened, and Tony was not acknowledging it in the slightest. 

Peter decided to wait two days before he sent Tony flowers and a ‘ _ get well soon _ ’ card. He had received a ‘ _ thank you for the flowers _ ’ text the next day from him, but Tony had not replied Peter when he had asked him how he was.

“He doesn’t deserve you, Peter,” Ned tried to comfort him.

“It’s my fault. I fucked up.”

“You saved his life! You didn’t fuck up. Come on. MJ and I will take you out tonight, it’s been too long. Forget about this dude.”

If only it were that easy.


End file.
